Where are all the macaca-fretters now? Where are the weeks of persistent and breathless front page headlines in all the major national newspapers? When one of the top leaders of the Democratic caucus in Congress calls an African-American candidate a "token" and "slavish," and there is only marginal media attention about it, our media establishment is broken.

This week, at an event (attended by John Kerry) for Democrat Senate candidate Ben Cardin, Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland declared that Michael Steele has made a "career of slavishly supportingly the Republican Party."

Oh. Okay.

Hoyer, who is now Minority Whip, would be poised to become one of the most powerful men in America, perhaps Majority Leader or even Speaker, if Democrats miraculously win the House of Representatives next month. In the past, Hoyer has had other things to say about Michael Steele:

"The problem with token candidates like Mr. Steele is that the voters see them for what they are."

Sure, Michael Steele is not running against Steny Hoyer, but Hoyer's comments are especially ironic, given the electoral hegemony his party holds over the African-American community.

What's more, Ben Cardin, whose poll numbers are profoundly weak in such an allegedly great environment for Democrats, attacked Michael Steele for being offended:

...he also said Steele was trying to change the subject. "He's looking for every excuse he can to avoid talking about the issues," Cardin said.

All of this, from the same party that brought us Simple Sambo and throwing Oreo cookies at Steele.

This from the same Democratic Party whose high ranking members have called Michael Steele an "Uncle Tom" and worse.

Time and time again, Michael Steele has been subjected to vicious race-based attacks that would each absolutely be much bigger news if his name had a 'D' next to it. Imagine if wonderful, wonderful Barack Obama had been subject to some of this sort of stuff. We would never hear the end of it.

The message from Democrats, up and down the line, is that if you are black and you know what's good for you, you had better not wander over to the Party of Lincoln.

The fact of the matter is that Michael Steele is no token. He'll be an immediate star in the Senate. Fortunately, Michael Steele is performing fantastically well. He is a better human being, and a superior candidate, than Ben Cardin. Unfortunately, though, Michael Steele is running in a state where John Kerry beat President Bush by 13%, so he's got his work cut out for him.

The right quote can be therapeutic, so tune in to WILLisms.com for quotational therapy on Monday and Friday.

Posted by Will Franklin · 20 October 2006 05:09 PM

Comments

I get your point however I honestly don't see how the slavish comment could be construed as any more than an attempt to associate Steele to Pres. Bush and the Republican party from which Steele has reportedly been consciously dissociating himself throughout this campaign.

It appears that the Steele campaign may be overreaching a little to score points with black voters.

Though I'm not sure how this strategy will utimatley work,the latest USA Today Poll has Steele 46% - Cardin 46%. I believe Steele could still win the election by extoling the virtues of his party affiliation and how it has shaped his life rather than diminishing it's influence.